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Next time you make a special Saturday morning breakfast, how about making these Panda Pancakes? They are almost as simple to make as regular round pancakes, so what are you waiting for? Tint some of your standard pancake batter with cocoa powder, get out a few chocolate chips (or raisins), and you’re almost there.

2. Separate 1/3 of batter out into a smaller bowl and add 1/3 cup cocoa powder (or as much as needed to achieve desired brown color). You might need to add a tiny bit of milk or water to thin batter a bit.

3. If desired, add some powdered creamer to light-colored batter to whiten it a bit more (powdered creamer contains white pigment in its ingredients). This step is totally optional.

4. Heat skillet to slightly lower than you’re used to for making pancakes (we don’t want them to get as brown as normal – unlike my sample pancakes, ha ha!)

5. Pour a circle of white batter onto the skillet. Working quickly, add two spoonfuls of brown batter for ears, two for eyes, and one for nose. Add some kind of mouth if desired (as you can see in my photos, I experimented with different mouths, and a complete lack of mouth).

6. When you start to see bubbles coming up through batter and popping, gently flip pancake and cook until it’s done.

I find with pancakes, it usually takes a few pancakes to get the temperature right (maybe you don’t have this problem), so you might want to make a little extra batter. Leftover pancakes are never a bad thing!

If the pandas look funny or not-quite-panda, don’t worry! You are your own harshest critic. Kids will go along with it if you call them panda pancakes.

My family has a panda-fan, so we have also made panda rice balls and panda cupcakes.

You ought to try adding the chocolate batter to the pan first. I’ve been reading several pancake art blogs (yes, they’re out there), and they always do the details first. Just a thought. But this is a cute idea. I may just have to try it.